Vol. 29, No. 11: Covering Trump

Some readers and others took us to task for headlines about President-elect Trump’s claim, made without evidence, that millions of people voted illegally.

Photo:
Getty Images/iStockphoto

The problem? Though our headlines seemed straightforward by historical standards, they and the subheads didn’t immediately convey that the president-elect’s statement was unsubstantiated, these critics said. We did note this in the article’s second and third paragraphs. Still, the coverage of Mr. Trump’s tweets and other statements poses journalistic challenges.

The verb claims might be better than alleges for such statements from any flamethrowing politician, as the latter (used often for legal cases) can convey too much due diligence. If our reporting shows the claim has no basis, that should be conveyed in close proximity to the headline. Each case will be different; use good judgment. This is all standard journalistic practice of examining all claims with tough, thorough and impartial reporting and editing.

The alt-right

We have added alt-right to the stylebook (with a hyphen) and included a definition. This wasn’t a cut-and-dried task, as there is no agreed-upon definition for the loose agglomeration of groups that either use the term themselves or are branded with it in this heightened political atmosphere. Other news organizations, including the AP and the Guardian, have come up with definitions for their use.

Our book now says:

alt-right
It is short for alternative right, a reference to a loose agglomeration of groups with far-right ideologies, some of which embrace the tenets of white supremacy, while others consider themselves rebels against mainstream Republicanism. As such, use the term with precision.

As with any loaded phrase such as this, use it sparingly and only if it unquestionably applies to a group or individual. It should always be used with the definition, never alone, which can be shortened to: far-right groups that embrace tenets of white supremacy or say they reject mainstream conservatism.

But the best journalism doesn’t rely on a label, so it is better to avoid the term whenever possible and speak specifically about individuals and groups based on their own actions.

Rulings & reminders

● Mastercard now lowercases the “c” as part of a rebranding. No more MasterCard.
● As we plead every Christmas season, let’s avoid ’Tis the Season headlines unless you really come up with a clever twist. It has been done before (humbug!).
● We are now spelling it Tal Afar for the city in Iraq, rather than Tel Afar.
● Capitalize president-elect before his name as a title. So it is President-elect Donald Trump, or Donald Trump, the president-elect. In a main headline: President-Elect.
● Anne Hidalgo is the mayor of Paris. Not Hildalgo as we misspelled it recently. We have the name in the Tansa spell-checker now.
● Reminder on spike and dip. They aren’t the same as a rise and a fall. In both cases, the words mean a movement in one direction but then back in the other direction.
● Be careful with religiosity. Like verbosity, grandiosity and other words with the -osity ending, it has a derogatory undertone. Indeed, some dictionaries note that religiosity can mean an obsession with religion.

● “Zuckerberg Refutes Election Criticism.” A common mistake, but refute means to prove something wrong. In cases like this, we mean rebuts or rejects.
● “High-Flying Small Stocks.” Highflying flies with no hyphen.

American Muslim

The phrase Muslim-American has appeared in our pages in an article about a congressman, and it raised an issue. As one editor pointed out, Muslim is a religious affiliation, and we don’t say Christian-American or commonly say Jewish-American.

The issue, it turns out, had already arisen in August in describing a soldier, and after discussion with the U.S. News desk, it was decided that a better choice is American Muslim, if such a phrase is needed. Associated Press editors do condone Muslim-American on the logic that Muslim is also a culture, not just a religion, but we would prefer American Muslim, or a descriptive phrase if it is noteworthy such as who is a Muslim.

Pre-existing conditions

We are sure to have a lot of articles about the Affordable Care Act (known just as familiarly as Obamacare), and many references to pre-existing conditions. An editor notes that the pre- in the adjective is a redundancy, and we agree. Insurance, to be sure, may or may not cover existing conditions.

Grammar geeks have discussed the issue in online forums, noting the rare times when pre-existing has a use (such as in: The dinosaurs pre-existed us.)

However, we are a bit stuck, since pre-existing conditions is ingrained as insurance-industry jargon to mean medical conditions that existed before someone took out a policy. Perhaps the way our articles have been appearing is as good as it gets now: There are many references to pre-existing conditions when referring to insurance practices, but also phrases like insurers denying coverage because of patients’ existing conditions, which might be the first step in getting the world to use more-logical terminology.

Quiz (find the flubs)

1. After suffering a shocking defeat at the hands of an opponent with no political experience, Mrs. Clinton’s decades-long career in public service came to a likely conclusion in the brief but somber speech.
2. Having dispatched the Bush and Clinton political dynasties during his run for the White House, Mr. Trump’s policies are set to become the party’s policies.
3. One of the best-paid executives at Goldman Sachs, his multimillion-dollar bonuses raised eyebrows, especially at the height of the eurozone debt crisis.
4. Caption: Quanisha Robinson, an Hispanic college freshman in Raleigh, N.C.
5. At 4’10,” she was also the perfect height to play characters at the nearby theme park.
6. He says Rudy and two other roosters began squatting in the yard of the red brick ranch house where his mother lived until she passed away several years ago.
7. Although vintage SUVs are still street legal, some log fewer than 10 miles per gallon, and they also pollute more than today’s vehicles.
8. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law who is also a close confident to the president-elect, is said to be an advocate for Mr. Romney.
9. A Cuban flag fluttered at half mast near a banner depicting Fidel Castro in Havana on Sunday.
10. Alexandra Zapruder’s father…died of brain cancer in 2006, leaving she alone to tell the tale.

Answers

1. Dangler. Our wording made it sound as if it was her career that was defeated. Also: decadeslong.
2. And another dangler. His policies didn’t dispatch the dynasties; he did.
3. And yet another. His bonuses weren’t well-paid.
4. She is a Hispanic, since the “H” is aspirated.
5. The comma would go outside the double quotes, since they really aren’t quotes at all, but a symbol for inches that is technically known as a double prime. Then again, our style actually is to avoid the prime marks entirely: At 4 feet 10, etc.
6. “Passed away” is a polite way, of course, of saying died. But in journalism, died will do.
7. Less than 10 miles a gallon. The fewer/less than problem again. Fewer is for whole, countable things like the number of marbles on a table. Measurements including miles don’t occur in whole chunks at a time, so it’s less than.
8. A close confidant, or confidante for a woman. Then again, is the word “close” needed?
9. Flags fly at half-mast only on ships and at naval stations. We meant half-staff, a nuance that we usually are meticulous about.
10. Leaving her alone.